Five ’80s Toy Properties I Want to See on Kindle Worlds

Amazon has announced Kindle Worlds*, a new approach to fan fiction in which the authors get paid and the property rights owners get some bucks and all rights to the published stories. It’s a very creative approach to publishing and even though the announced worlds don’t mean a thing to me the concept is stunning. With a little work, Amazon may secure some properties that not only excite buyers but also might tempt me into writing a story or two for the project.

In the hopes that someone out there who knows someone who knows something, I’m offering up five toy properties from the eighties that, if they were to find their way into the Kindle Worlds* stable, I would totally take time to start writing stories for the project.

Starriors

Wind-up robot toys with parts you can swap around, Starriors never went beyond the Marvel mini-series, the toys, or the (weak) mini-comics that were included with the toys. These aren’t transforming robot toys (which is probably what hurt the line in 1984/1985), but the back story — humans build robots to protect us, time passes, robots think “man” is a myth — leaves some fun concepts to play around with. And the robot designs — see starriors.com — are just crazy enough to lead to some drilling, sawing, and stabbing action.

C.O.P.S.

Hasbro’s C.O.P.S. series (see the generalsjoes.com archive) mixed cyberpunk with thirties-style gangsters to build a toy line, comic series, and cartoon with its own feel unlike anything else we saw on shelves in the late eighties. I’m not sure I’d ever call the line a huge success, and the stories released at the time were fairly simple, but the wealth of character designs and the basic concept is fun enough I’d love a chance at writing a story or two set in the world where we’re “Fighting Crime in a Future Time.”

Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors

I don’t really remember the cartoon or toys all that well, but whenever I think of awesome vehicle designs I always remember Jayce and the Wheeled Warriors. Take a look at the Virtual Toy Chest page for a look at these insane vehicle designs that are loaded with wheels, treads, guns . . . they’re really pretty far out there. And it helps that the general concept, as described on Wikipedia, follows some high concepts and general ideas I find interesting. This quote pretty much grabs my imagination and makes me want to write:

The backstory is that Audric was a botanist who did several experiments with biotechnology, one of which blossomed and became a young humanoid girl named Floral “Flora” Lightwheel. Audric had also created a miracle crop that could thrive in any environment and was intended to end galactic hunger. However, a burst of radiation generated by a sudden solar flare mutated his plant into an evil, sentient being, and changed other plants around Audric’s laboratory into similar creatures, who collectively became known as the Monster Minds, and refer to their leader (the first mutant creature) as Saw Boss. Audric manages to create a magical root that can destroy the Monster Minds, but is forced to flee before he can complete the task, after which the Monster Minds turn Audric’s laboratory into their headquarters (which can teleport to other places by means of a mysterious power source known as “the power of the black light”).

Masters of the Universe

It kinda feels like cheating to list Masters of the Universe — and this is very unlikely since Mattel and DC are still actively working with this property — but the temptation to write short stories for this world are too strong not to mention. Without even trying I know exactly where to go for inspiration — the works of Robert E. Howard — and this property is actually one I may go ahead and write some fan fiction for one day regardless of whether or not the series ever makes it to Kindle Worlds*.

M.A.S.K.

Kenner’s M.A.S.K. toys were in stores for a few years and beautifully blended G.I. Joe and Transformers . . . but the cartoon was overly silly and comic never really did get past its toy roots. Hasbro now owns M.A.S.K. and they could do a lot worse than to release the property on Kindle Worlds* and let creative writers try to modernize the concept and generate something that could go on to make a few bucks. I’d love to see this treated as a Clancy-like set of stories with a lot of tech and action.

Will Kindle Worlds Succeed?

I love the basic concept, but until Kindle Worlds* gets some properties that have enough fans to drive a new market I just can’t see the idea taking off with fan authors or with readers. Granted none of the properties I’ve listed here are big enough to make the Amazon project succeed, but they’re properties that would tempt me into trying things from the “submit a story” side of their plan.

Which properties would convince you to try the new Kindle Worlds*, either as a buyer or as an author?

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